1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to apparatus for recording and/or reproducing digital data. More particularly, the present invention relates to a rotary head type digital audio tape recorder (R-DAT) when used for recording data from a computer or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to protect computer generated data written on a hard disc or the like, the data are sometimes transferred to a so-called data streamer (or data recorder) and are thereby recorded (or backed up) on other recording media once per day.
In most cases, a conventional data streamer is what might be called an analog audio tape recorder. Such an analog audio tape recorder, however, consumes a great quantity of the recording medium (i.e. tape). Also, such a conventional data streamer has a low data rate upon recording so that it takes a lot of time for transferring and recording the data. Further, it is not easy for the analog audio tape recorder to find out the starting point of the desired recorded data.
When data from, for example, the computer is recorded on a conventional audio tape recorder, an arbitrary file mark signal is supplied thereto from the computer. Upon reproduction, the location number of the file mark for the computer designated address is searched for. Since the conventional analog audio tape recorder is so arranged as to search for the location number of the file mark by counting the reproduced signal of the file mark in the normal reproduction operation, it takes a long time to search for the desired file mark. Thus, it is difficult to search for the location number of the file mark.
A DAT (digital audio tape recorder) has been developed, as described in "ES Review", pp. 11 to 14, published on December, 1985 by Sony Corporation, Shibaura Plant: ISSN 0389-7737. Since this DAT is designed so as to record and/or reproduce a digital signal that is a digitized audio signal, it is very suitable for recording the aforesaid data. The DAT, however, employs rotary heads so that it takes a lot of time to begin the recording or reproduction. As a result, if the supply of, for example, data to be recorded is interrupted and the recording is interrupted, there is then a risk that incoming data cannot be recorded smoothly because the conventional DAT cannot resume the recording quickly.